The Boston-based alt-weekly publisher has purchased El Planeta, saying it hopes to attract a larger Hispanic audience in the Boston area, the Boston Globe reports. Phoenix Media had been investing in the weekly since 2005, and already prints and distributes the paper. "I personally strongly see the value in the Hispanic newspaper market and the opportunity for that to grow," says Phoenix Media president Bradley Mindich. "It was one of these opportunities we couldn't pass up." The company, which owns AAN members in Boston, Portland, and Providence, will share some content with El Planeta, and the Spanish-language paper's staff will move into Phoenix Media's Boston headquarters. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More from Boston Business Journal.

Continue ReadingPhoenix Media Buys Spanish-Language Weekly

Patrick Best, who spent four years as CL's advertising director before starting rival publication The Sunday Paper, told Atlanta Magazine's Steve Fennessy last week he's willing to pay Ben Eason $1 million for Creative Loafing (Atlanta). Fennessy notes that it is unclear whether the purchase would even be possible, given CL's Chapter 11 status, but Best says "it's not unusual for businesses that are in bankruptcy to sell off pieces of their company in order to raise capital." MORE on Creative Loafing: Former senior editor (and current shareholder) John Sugg writes about CL's "death spiral," and Creative Loafing's Mara Shalhoup responds. And departing senior writer Andisheh Nouraee discusses why he is leaving with Atlanta Progressive News.

Continue ReadingFormer Creative Loafing Ad Director Offers $1 Million for Atlanta Paper

The 2009 AltWeekly Awards is now accepting entries. The contest website opened Mon., Dec. 1, 2008 and will close on the contest deadline, Fri., Jan. 30, 2009 at midnight (EST). This year’s Wild Card category is Election Coverage. The winners will be announced at the 32nd Annual AAN Convention taking place June 25-27, 2009 in Tucson, Ariz.

Continue ReadingCall for Entries: 2009 AltWeekly Awards

Brian Hickey was seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident Friday in Collingswood, N.J. According to his wife, he was struck around 10:15 pm and left for dead, and is currently in stable condition at the Trauma-ICU of Cooper University Hospital after surgery to relieve pressure on his brain. "The last CAT scan showed the pressure was very good," Hickey's father tells the Philadelphia Daily News. "He's in critical but stable condition." During a 4.5 year stint at City Paper, Hickey rose to become the managing editor. He left the paper in February. More from Metro.

Continue ReadingEx-Philadelphia City Paper Editor Seriously Injured in Hit-and-Run

AAN publishers "need to right-size print operations immediately to free up resources for development of the new," argues Terry Garrett, in a blog post following up on his attendance at last month's Publisher's Conference in Santa Fe. Newspapers will have a much smaller market share in five years no matter what they do, and publishers would be smart to shake up their organizations now while they still have time, Garrett claims. "The world needs independent thought and journalism that cuts against the grain," he says. "I would love to see it come from this group of eccentric, creative people."

Continue ReadingAlt-Weeklies Must Change Now, Consultant Argues

Andisheh Nouraee submitted his resignation to publisher Luann Lebedz just hours after Lebedz fired editor Ken Edelstein yesterday, Atlanta Magazine's Steve Fennessy reports. Nouraee, who began freelancing for the paper in 2000 and joined the staff in 2007, says his decision was prompted only in part by Edelstein's dismissal. "What happened today is just one symptom of the overall reason, that I don't want to work there full-time anymore," he says. His last day will be Dec. 5.

Continue ReadingSenior Writer to Leave Creative Loafing (Atlanta)

While more than 70 papers are asking their readers to pledge to spend $100 of their holiday shopping locally this year, in Philadelphia, one alt-weekly has taken it a step further. The City Paper is hosting a Trunk Show on the most overhyped of mall shopping days, the day after Thanksgiving, aka Black Friday. The show will feature clothing, jewelry, bags, stationery, housewares and more from local designers, craftspeople and boutiques. AAN News recently caught up with City Paper associate publisher Roxanne Cooper via email to find out more about the initiative.

Continue ReadingPhiladelphia City Paper Makes Shopping Locally Easy with Trunk Show

As part of an initiative launched earlier this month, AAN members from Hawaii to New York are running inventive marketing programs to get their readers to shop locally this holiday season. The papers are urging readers to spend at least $100 of their holiday money this fall at locally owned stores in their communities -- a move that could pump more than $2.9 billion into urban economies during this recession-plagued season. Links to several papers' efforts can be found here. If your paper is missing from our link list, please contact Jon Whiten at jwhiten (at) aan.org and we'll add it to the list.

Continue ReadingAlt-Weeklies Around the Country Ask Readers to Shop Local